Western Railroad Discussion > new glass at West Missoula

The Sigma 150mm-600mm f5-6.3 Sport lens I ordered last Sept finally arrived and I was able to pick it up today.  I found a couple of trains departing in the late afternoon and used this as an opportunity to see if the glass is as good as reports have been.  Smoke from fires in MT and ID have left the skies not conducive to long lens use but here are examples of what I captured today.

The lens and camera are heavy.  A monopod is the minimum support though I did grab a couple of airplanes in flight which were not too bad at 600mm 1/1000 sec hand held. 

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The lens is a zoom and I knew the distant images might be soft from all the smoke.  I waited a while a bit while the trains climbed out of town and opened the lens to about 250mm to check sharpness at that focal length.

I think this will be a good trackside tool.

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Looks good to me, what body were you shooting with? This lens is on my watch list along with its Consumer version sibling and the Tamron 150-600. Overall performance of all 3 lenses is pretty damn good, especially when considering the focal range and price.

Bryan Jones
Brooks, KY
Bryan's Train Photos

Nice! What kind of image stabilization is employed in this setup (other than the monopod)?
 

Ted Curphey
Ontario, OR

NICE pics!!

The camera body is a Nikon D800E. The lens and body were mounted on an older Bogen tripod which has had some screws added to tighten years of wear and the legs extended about two inches short of full extension. This is topped with a Wimberly gimbal head. It is nor a set up one takes off up the mountain on a whim. I did make a couple of images later with a monopod and handheld which I may post in a few days when I find some time.

This spring I began using iso 800-1000 as my normal setting. So my shutter speeds are normally in the 1/1000-1/1500 range and f stops of f8-f16. While the lens has image stabilization it is better not to use that feature with a tripod or at shutter speeds higher than 1/320. Nikon has done an excellent job of controlling sensor noise and post processing gives an easy fix for isos in the 4000-8000 range. It new problem is lens refraction through the lens iris above f11 on most lenses.

Once you choose a lens over 300 mm you start playing in a whole new ball game and some new techniques need to be developed. I know the first thought is the glass will bring distant objects up close but all that air we breath really softens the image and heat waves from the ground can really kill an image.

These new 150-600 zooms at their $1100-$2000 price points really open long lens photography to a wider customer base. The quality of the build looks incredible. It is all metal including the machined aluminum lens hood. Unlike some glass from Nikon and Canon the Sigma line is made in Japan.

I really could have used this a couple of weeks ago while I watched 4 river otters frolicking in the Missouri River for about 20 minutes.

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Im interested in seeing more.  It looks like you were shooting in hazy or smokey conditions which would not result in a good example of what the lens can do in terms of clarity, sharpness, and contrast.

Ive pondered that lens myself, though must admit Im very very near on pulling the trigger on the new Nikon 200-500mm, Id give up 100 mm at the end but gain a fixed minimum f stop.

 

I haven't heard about the new Nikon 200-500 lens, I will have to check it out. I considered the Nikon 200-400 but it was just too spendy for the amount it would get. This is also a lens which is not as sharp at long distances as it is closer in. It seems to be designed for sports photographers on a football field or baseball diamond rather than wildlife photographers. I am sure the new Nikon design will be improved. I think the current Nikon 200-400 is probably a good railfan lens and might be a good buy as they are closed out.

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I've owned this lens since April and I LOVE IT!  Long lenses have always been my passion in rail photography, and I bought the 150-600 Sport to replace my Canon 500mm f4L and 100-400 L.  From what I can see on my Retina Mac its as sharp as the 500, which is an amazingly sharp lens.  For $2000 it is the best bang for the buck on the market. In talking to Canon, the fully expect it to do serious damage to their long super telephoto market because the higher ISO capabilities of today's generation of bodies has made 5.6-6.3 a non-issue.  Attached are three examples:
1. Augusta KS 440mm. f8 1/800 ISO 800
2. Arvada CO 600mm f7.1 1/640 ISO 800
3. Coal City IL 600mm f8 1/640 ISO1000

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Those are nice sunny image captures. I am going out how to choose when to use the 400mm to 600mm range.

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